When I’d get anxious or panicked, I’d get angry and frustrated at myself. There was no logical reason to be anxious about these situations, I told myself, so my symptoms didn’t make sense.

I stopped trusting my body and became increasingly paranoid about every little bodily sensation. My body was going to betray me at any moment, so I had to be hyper vigilant.

I ended up in negative loops that made my symptoms much worse over time. I was unintentionally piling more and more stress and pressure on my body. After decades of pitting mind against body, this ultimately contributed to me developing chronic fatigue.

I didn’t realise that feelings of safety flow from your body to your mind, not the other way round.

Your body must be relaxed first, so it can signal to your mind that it is safe, which allows your mind to relax too.

That’s why trying to overrule your body never works. By locking your body in a panopticon and constantly sounding the alarm, you are telling your body that it is always in danger, so naturally it can never feel safe.

Instead, work with your body, not against it. Your mind and body are on the same team.

Your body already knows how to rest, heal and grow. It’s been doing it all your life. All you need to do is give it the right conditions.

By trusting your body instead of trying to overrule it, you create the conditions for it, and you, to feel safe.